LIBRARY

17 February 2017

Political analyst Kim Sok was charged with incitement and defamation and brought to CC1 prison this afternoon in relation to a five-day-old complaint brought against him by Prime Minister Hun Sen.

He was charged and sent to pre-trial detention by Phnom Penh investigating judge Rouss Phiset following hours of questioning by prosecutor Seang Sok. The case is the first of two lawsuits the Prime Minister brought against Kim Sok in relation to comments made by the political analyst about the murder of Kem Ley, who was killed last July. The second lawsuit - also alleging defamation and incitement - was lodged after Kim Sok took to the radio to explain his earlier comments. A conviction for incitement carries a jail sentence of six months to two years. The Prime Minister has also asked for compensation in both complaints, totalling USD$502,500.

A crowd of about 250 people gathered outside Phnom Penh Municipal Court in support of Kim Sok this morning.

15 February 2017

Boeung Kak Lake representatives Tep Vanny, Bo Chhorvy, Kong Chantha and Heng Mom faced a hearing this morning to appeal convictions handed down to them last September by Phnom Penh Municipal Court in relation to a 2011 protest. Appeal Court judge Nhoung Thol will announce the verdict on 27 February. Neither plaintiff was present at the hearing, preventing cross-examination, and evidence presented was limited.

In their first trial, all four women were found guilty of obstruction of a public official with aggravating circumstances and insult and sentenced to six months' imprisonment. Since then, Tep Vanny has remained in pre-trial detention in CC2 prison – where she has now been for half a year – for separate charges relating to a protest held by Boeung Kak Lake community in 2013 in front of the Prime Minister's house. Bo Chhorvy, Kong Chantha and Heng Mom were not arrested as the sentences will not be enforced until all appeals are exhausted. None of the evidence presented at the original trial or the appeal hearing sufficiently proved the guilt of the four women.

About 40 community members and supporters from land communities and civil society groups gathered outside the court during today's hearing.

3 February 2017

The trial of land activist Tep Vanny was suspended just 45 minutes after it began this afternoon by judge Long Kes Phearum, who cited his own sickness and a chaotic situation for the adjournment. Tep Vanny requested for the trial to proceed.

Vanny has been in pre-trial detention since last August on charges of intentional violence with aggravating circumstances, relating to a protest held by Boeung Kak Lake community in 2013 in front of the Prime Minister's house. About 80 supporters, including community members, NGOs and monks, gathered outside the courtroom for her trial this afternoon. This case is just one of three historic cases which were re-activated in August 2016 while Vanny was awaiting trial on separate charges relating to a Black Monday protest.

As of today, she has been detained for 172 days. There is no date set for the trial resumption.

25 January 2017

Land activist Tep Vanny has been denied bail following a Supreme Court hearing conducted by judge Kim Sathavy last week.

Vanny has been in pre-trial detention since last August on charges of intentional violence with aggravating circumstances, relating to a protest held by Boeung Kak Lake community in 2013 in front of the Prime Minister's house. As of today, she has been detained for 163 days. Her trial is due to be held on 3 February. 

21 January 2017

Two months after the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s (WGAD) ruled that the ongoing detention of ADHOC staff members Lim Mony, Ny Sokha, Nay Vanda, and Yi Soksan, and NEC Deputy Secretary-General, Ny Chakrya is arbitrary, we, the undersigned civil society organizations, reiterate our call upon the Cambodian authorities to implement the decision of the WGAD and immediately release them. Nearly nine months after the five were first detained, Cambodia has taken no action to cease or remedy its unlawful treatment of the five, and remains in a continuing state of non-compliance with its binding legal obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Our organizations condemn in the strongest terms the failure of the Cambodian authorities to implement the recommendations of the WGAD.

18 January 2017

Land activist Tep Vanny faced a 45-minute Supreme Court bail hearing this morning as community members from across Phnom Penh gathered outside in support. Supreme Court judge Kim Sathavy will announce the bail ruling on 25 January.

Vanny has been in pre-trial detention since last August on charges of intentional violence with aggravating circumstances, relating to a protest held by Boeung Kak Lake community in 2013 in front of the Prime Minister's house. This case is just one of three historic cases which were re-activated in August 2016 while Vanny was awaiting trial on separate charges relating to a Black Monday protest.

As of today, she has been detained for 156 days.

14 January 2017

This morning, Din Puthy, CNRP's deputy chief of operations in Poipet, was released on bail from Banteay Meanchey prison.

He was charged with intentional violence with aggravating circumstances on December 24, and had been imprisoned since then. The charges stem from accusations of hitting immigration police officer Chhean Pisith with his car, despite video footage and witness accounts casting serious doubt on the claims. Appeals judge Nuon Ratana ruled for his release on bail following a closed hearing in Phnom Penh yesterday.

6 January 2017

This audio book contains the edited highlights of two radio shows exploring how the Cambodian justice system responds to cases of rape. The shows were originally broadcast during the 2016 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence Campaign. In the two clips, a young rape victim and the father of a rape victim describe their experiences of the Cambodian justice system and there is a discussion of the main findings of LICADHO’s most recent report on rape “Getting Away With It – 2016 Update” which reviews the outcomes of cases investigated by LICADHO in 2015.

18 December 2016

FIDH, OMCT, CCHR, ADHOC and LICADHO welcome the recent Opinion adopted by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) that recognises the arbitrary nature of the detention of human rights defenders Ny Chakrya, Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan, Nay Vanda, and Lim Mony. Our organisations call upon the Cambodian authorities to implement the Opinion of the WGAD by releasing the five human rights defenders immediately and providing them appropriate compensation.

15 December 2016

We, the undersigned civil society groups, condemn in the strongest terms the upholding of the unjustified conviction of the former Head of the Human Rights and Monitoring Section of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) and current Deputy Secretary-General of the National Election Committee (NEC), Mr. Ny Chakrya, in a verdict handed down by the Court of Appeal today.

8 December 2016

This morning, elected opposition commune council chief Seang Chet was released from prison after yesterday receiving a royal pardon from King Sihamoni. The pardon came 48 hours after his conviction by the Phnom Penh court of first instance and means he will no longer have to serve a five year sentence for ”bribery of a witness” in a politically-motivated case led by the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU). He had already spent 228 days in detention.

The release follows an apparent easing of political tensions between the ruling and opposition party leaders after a similar pardon was granted to acting opposition leader Kem Sokha on 2 December after spending over six months at the opposition’s headquarters under defacto house-arrest.

2 December 2016

On the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, LICADHO publishes its report “Built on Slavery: Debt Bondage and Child Labour in Cambodia’s Brick Factories” which presents evidence of the widespread use of contemporary forms of slavery in Cambodia’s brick manufacturing industry. It finds that despite the existence of comprehensive and long-standing legislation criminalizing the use of debt bondage and prohibiting child labour, competent authorities are making no efforts to eradicate them and are in fact enabling their survival.

30 November 2016

This morning, ADHOC staffers Lim Mony, Ny Sokha, Nay Vanda and Yi Soksan, and election official Ny Chakrya, were denied bail following a Supreme Court hearing conducted by judge Kim Sothavy last week.

The five human rights defenders were imprisoned under spurious bribery charges on 2 May amid national and international outcry. If convicted, they could be sentenced to between five and ten years’ imprisonment.

Today's judgment follows an Appeal Court decision earlier this week to throw out an appeal lodged by the five against a decision by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to extend their pre-trial detention for a further six months beyond the six-month limit stipulated under Cambodian law. They have now been imprisoned for almost eight months.

28 November 2016

A year ago, to mark the 2015 16 Days Against Gender Based Violence campaign, LICADHO published a report Getting Away With It: The Treatment of Rape in Cambodia’s Justice System. The report was based on cases investigated by LICADHO in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and found that there were grave and systemic flaws in how rape cases are prosecuted in Cambodia and as a result, a disturbingly low number of convictions. There were several reasons for this: the extensive use of financial compensation to settle cases, widespread corruption amongst the police and the judiciary, poor understanding and application of the law by judges, and the prevalence of discriminatory attitudes towards women.

7 November 2016

This afternoon, marking his 450th day in jail, Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted opposition senator Hong Sok Hour of forgery and incitement charges, handing down a seven-year prison sentence.

In August 2015, Hong Sok Hour was charged with forgery of public documents, use of forged public documents, and incitement to commit a crime after posting a video containing images of an altered version of a reproduction of the 1979 treaty between Cambodia and Vietnam on Facebook. During his trial, which began in October 2015 and resumed just two weeks ago after more than a year's postponement, Hong Sok Hour’s defence lawyers were prevented from publicly presenting exculpatory evidence by trial judge Ros Piseth. He has now been detained in CC1 prison since his arrest in August 2015 by special forces on the orders of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Exiled opposition president Sam Rainsy has also been charged as an accomplice in the same case, but not brought to trial.

4 November 2016

This morning, the Appeal Court upheld CNRP deputy leader Kem Sokha's conviction for refusing to appear as a witness after rejecting all arguments put forward by defence lawyers.

Appeal Court judge Seng Sivutha also upheld the five months prison sentence and 800,000 riel (about $200) fine handed down by the Municipal Court following Kem Sokha's trial in September. The deputy opposition leader now has one more opportunity to appeal his conviction at the Supreme Court; if the conviction is upheld there, his sentence can be enforced.

In a simultaneous hearing this morning, the Supreme Court ruled against a motion which challenged the Phnom Penh Municipal Court investigating judge's initial decision to bring Kem Sokha to trial. The challenge was brought on the grounds of his parliamentary immunity.

10 October 2016

This afternoon, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced opposition CNRP MP Um Sam An to two years and six months’ imprisonment with a four million riel ($1,000) fine after convicting him of incitement to commit a felony and incitement to commit discrimination under Articles 495 and 496 of the Cambodian Criminal Code.

During the trial hearing, Um Sam An and his lawyers made repeated complaints that the trial amounted to a violation of his constitutional rights to parliamentary immunity and freedom of expression before leaving the court in protest. Trial judge Heng Sokna completed the hearing in their absence.

The case relates to online expression and Facebook posts made by Um Sam An over one year ago in relation to the ongoing political dispute between the ruling party and the opposition over Cambodia’s border with Vietnam. The authorities interpreted the continued existence of the Facebook posts one year later as evidence of a “flagrant offence” – bypassing Um Sam An’s parliamentary immunity.

22 September 2016

We, the undersigned civil society organisations, condemn in the strongest terms today’s unjustified conviction of former Head of the Human Rights and Monitoring Section of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association ADHOC) and deputy secretary-general of the National Election Committee (NEC), Mr. Ny Chakrya, by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. After a four and a half hour trial, Judge Khy Chhay deliberated for a mere 15 minutes before deciding to convict Mr. Ny Chakrya on charges of defamation, malicious denunciation, and publication of commentaries intended to unlawfully coerce judicial authorities, under Articles 305, 311 and 522 respectively of the Cambodian Criminal Code. Mr. Ny Chakrya was sentenced to six months in prison and given a fine of six million Riel (approximately $1,500).

19 September 2016

This morning, Boeung Kak Lake representatives Tep Vanny, Bo Chhorvy, Kong Chantha and Heng Mom were found guilty of obstruction of a public official with aggravating circumstances and insult relating to a November 2011 protest.

Judge Ly Sokleng sentenced all four women to six months' imprisonment after a three-hour hearing at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. Tep Vanny was sent back to pre-trial detention in CC2 prison – where she has now been for nearly five weeks – for separate charges relating to a protest held by Boeung Kak Lake community in 2013 in front of the Prime Minister's house. No special enforcement order was issued so Bo Chhorvy and Kong Chantha – as well as Heng Mom, who was tried in absentia – were not arrested as their sentence will not be enforced until all appeals are exhausted. None of the evidence presented at the trial sufficiently proved the guilt of the four women.

About 30 community members and supporters from other land communities and civil society groups gathered outside the court during the trial.

14 September 2016

This morning a group of representatives from the Boeung Kak Lake community delivered petitions to the World Bank and the embassy of the Delegation of the European Union to Cambodia – calling for intervention to secure a resolution for the community’s remaining land conflict, the release of detained activist Tep Vanny and the dropping of charges against all members of the Boeung Kak Lake community.

At the World Bank, a group of approximately 30 para-police confronted the community representatives, accusing them of obstructing entrances to the World Bank before pushing the gathering away from the building. Shortly afterwards a representative of the World Bank accepted the petition.

At the European Union, Boeung Kak Lake representatives Bov Sophea and Song Sreyleap were permitted to enter the embassy, where an assistant to the ambassador accepted the petition. After leaving the embassy Song Sreyleap delivered a short speech to the media calling on the Cambodian government to resolve the remaining land dispute and to clear all criminal charges against members of the community. The representatives pledged to follow up on the petitions.